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There’s an interesting follow up to my recent posting about the government needing to do more to support local food – particluarly on the production side – in the form of an article in today’s Guelph Mercury. It basically calls on the province to put its money where its mouth is and help support our producers [...]   The record-high prices for soybeans, corn and wheat brought about by the ethanol craze are a boon to long-suffering Canadian grains and oilseed farmers who have struggled in recent years. But what’s good for some farmers spells economic disaster for others as the high prices drive up the costs of livestock feed for cattle, sheep and swine farmers. And if you think that this won’t affect you since you’re not a farmer, think again. Continue reading Ethanol spawns a new crisis? Farming is a tough business. I’ve been around agriculture all my life and it seems as though one sector or another is always hurting. Right now, grains and oilseeds (crops grown for their oil such as soybeans, canola, sunflowers etc) farmers are enjoying record high demand for their crops – and the high prices to go along with that. By comparison, livestock farmers are struggling to make ends meet as the high crop prices have driven up the cost of feed. There are other problems plaguing the livestock sector too, but the rapidly sky-rocketing feed prices are certainly a contributing cause. The US government last week approved the sale of meat and milk from cloned animals for human consumption – and at the same time, asked farmers to keep them off store shelves. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared the products as safe for humans to eat as those from conventionally produced livestock. The US Department [...] Now safely ensconced at Queen’s Park for another four years, Ontario’s Liberal government seems keen to move ahead with its proposed cosmetic ban of pesticides. Out of the many promises they made during last fall’s election campaign, this one seems to be one of the least pressing. On the surface, a pesticide ban is probably relatively easy to implement and potentially popular with voters. But although there’s been talk of an exemption for agriculture, the ban does nothing for the farming community. If the consumers don’t start paying more for pork at the grocery store, they may soon not be able to buy it at all. That’s the message behind a call for retailers and processors to increase pork prices from hog farmers in seven countries around the world who have been hit hard by low prices and [...] Dr Larry Martin, senior research fellow with the George Morris Centre, presented the results of a wide-reaching policy project examining the future of Canadian agriculture to the Canadian Farm Writers annual conference in Belleville ON this morning. The vision of Canadian agriculture recommended in the project final report focuses on innovation: Canada’s agri-products sector prospers by [...] |   | |||||
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